Systems and methods for sharing content

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media can provide a messaging interface for accessing one or more message threads. At least one ephemeral message to be sent through a first message thread can be determined. The first message thread can be used to exchange messages among a first group of users. The first group of users can be provided with access to the ephemeral message through the first message thread.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present technology relates to the field of content sharing. Moreparticularly, the present technology relates to techniques for sharingcontent with users.

BACKGROUND

Users often utilize computing devices for a wide variety of purposes.Users can use their computing devices to, for example, interact with oneanother, access media content, share media content, and create mediacontent. In some cases, media content can be provided by members of asocial network. The media content can include one or a combination oftext, images, videos, and audio. The media content may be published tothe social network for consumption by others.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the present disclosure can include systems,methods, and non-transitory computer readable media configured toprovide a messaging interface for accessing one or more message threads;determine at least one ephemeral message to be sent through a firstmessage thread, wherein the first message thread is used to exchangemessages among a first group of users; and provide the first group ofusers with access to the ephemeral message through the first messagethread.

In some embodiments, the first group of users can exchange bothephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages through the first messagethread.

In some embodiments, a user that created the ephemeral message ispermitted to view the ephemeral message while accessing the firstmessage thread.

In some embodiments, the user is no longer permitted to view theephemeral message after exiting the first message thread.

In some embodiments, the user is able to select an option to revive theephemeral message in the first message thread, wherein reviving theephemeral message permits the user to again access the ephemeralmessage.

In some embodiments, a recipient of the ephemeral message is permittedto view the ephemeral message while accessing the first message thread,and wherein the recipient is no longer permitted to view the ephemeralmessage after exiting the first message thread.

In some embodiments, the messaging interface provides an option to keepthe ephemeral message in the first message thread.

In some embodiments, selecting the option to keep the ephemeral messageconverts the ephemeral message to a non-ephemeral message in the firstmessage thread.

In some embodiments, the systems, methods, and non-transitory computerreadable media are configured to determine at least one non-ephemeralmessage to be sent through the first message thread and provide thefirst group of users with access to the non-ephemeral message throughthe first message thread.

In some embodiments, the non-ephemeral message remains accessible to thefirst group of users even after a user exits the first message thread.

It should be appreciated that many other features, applications,embodiments, and/or variations of the disclosed technology will beapparent from the accompanying drawings and from the following detaileddescription. Additional and/or alternative implementations of thestructures, systems, non-transitory computer readable media, and methodsdescribed herein can be employed without departing from the principlesof the disclosed technology.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system including an example messagingmodule, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example message module, according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example ephemeral message module, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example non-ephemeral message module, accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure

FIGS. 4A-4G illustrate example interfaces, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method, according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a network diagram of an example system including anexample social networking system that can be utilized in variousscenarios, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a computer system or computing devicethat can be utilized in various scenarios, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

The figures depict various embodiments of the disclosed technology forpurposes of illustration only, wherein the figures use like referencenumerals to identify like elements. One skilled in the art will readilyrecognize from the following discussion that alternative embodiments ofthe structures and methods illustrated in the figures can be employedwithout departing from the principles of the disclosed technologydescribed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Approaches for Sharing Content

As mentioned, users often utilize computing devices for a wide varietyof purposes. Users can use their computing devices to, for example,interact with one another, access media content, share media content,and create media content. In some cases, media content items can includepostings from members of an online community or platform, such as asocial networking system. The postings may include one or a combinationof text, images, videos, and audio. The postings may be published to thesocial networking system for consumption by others. In some instances,users can create and send content as messages through the socialnetworking system, for example, using a messenger software application.

Under conventional approaches, users can confront various challengeswhen exchanging messages (e.g., content) with other users through asocial networking system. In some instances, users may want to sendcertain messages without having to worry about those messages beingaccessible for some extended period of time. Further, having the optionto send messages with limited lifespan can help users express themselvesmore fully when communicating with other users. For example, a user maybe more willing to send a video of the user singing if the video isaccessible for only a limited period of time. In other instances, usersmay be less concerned about messages being available indefinitely.Conventional techniques employed by a social networking system oftencannot accommodate these dual interests. Accordingly, the userexperience can suffer, discouraging users from sharing content throughthe social networking system.

An improved approach rooted in computer technology overcomes theforegoing and other disadvantages associated with conventionalapproaches specifically arising in the realm of computer technology. Invarious embodiments, users of a messenger application can send andreceive messages. In general, messages may sent as ephemeral messages oras non-ephemeral messages. An ephemeral message can include one or moreephemeral media content items. A non-ephemeral message can include oneor more non-ephemeral media content items. In some embodiments, accessto ephemeral messages may be restricted. For example, in someembodiments, an ephemeral message can be sent to one or more recipientsthrough a message thread. In this example, each recipient can access theephemeral message through the message thread. In some embodiments, arecipient can repeatedly access the ephemeral message for an indefiniteperiod of time while accessing the message thread. In some embodiments,the recipient's access to the ephemeral message expires after therecipient is no longer accessing the message thread. For example, therecipient's access to the ephemeral message can expire as soon as therecipient closes (or exits) the message thread. More details relating tothe disclosed technology are provided below.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system 100 including an example messagingmodule 102, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Asshown in the example of FIG. 1, the messaging module 102 can include aninterface module 104 and a message module 106. In some instances, theexample system 100 can include at least one data store 112. Thecomponents (e.g., modules, elements, etc.) shown in this figure and allfigures herein are exemplary only, and other implementations may includeadditional, fewer, integrated, or different components. Some componentsmay not be shown so as not to obscure relevant details.

In some embodiments, the messaging module 102 can be implemented, inpart or in whole, as software, hardware, or any combination thereof. Ingeneral, a module as discussed herein can be associated with software,hardware, or any combination thereof. In some implementations, one ormore functions, tasks, and/or operations of modules can be carried outor performed by software routines, software processes, hardware, and/orany combination thereof. In some cases, the messaging module 102 or atleast a portion thereof can be implemented using one or more computingdevices or systems that include one or more servers, such as networkservers or cloud servers. In some instances, the messaging module 102can, in part or in whole, be implemented within or configured to operatein conjunction with a social networking system (or service), such as thesocial networking system 630 of FIG. 6. In some instances, the messagingmodule 102 can be, in part or in whole, implemented within or configuredto operate in conjunction or be integrated with a client computingdevice, such as the user device 610 of FIG. 6. For example, themessaging module 102 can be implemented as or within a dedicatedapplication (e.g., app), a program, or an applet running on a usercomputing device or client computing system. The applicationincorporating or implementing instructions for performing some, or all,functionality of the messaging module 102 can be created by a developer.The application can be provided to or maintained in a repository. Insome cases, the application can be uploaded or otherwise transmittedover a network (e.g., Internet) to the repository. For example, acomputing system (e.g., server) associated with or under control of thedeveloper of the application can provide or transmit the application tothe repository. The repository can include, for example, an “app” storein which the application can be maintained for access or download by auser. In response to a command by the user to download the application,the application can be provided or otherwise transmitted over a networkfrom the repository to a computing device associated with the user. Forexample, a computing system (e.g., server) associated with or undercontrol of an administrator of the repository can cause or permit theapplication to be transmitted to the computing device of the user sothat the user can install and run the application. The developer of theapplication and the administrator of the repository can be differententities in some cases, but can be the same entity in other cases. Itshould be understood that many variations are possible.

The messaging module 102 can be configured to communicate and/or operatewith the at least one data store 112, as shown in the example system100. The at least one data store 112 can be configured to store andmaintain various types of data. For example, the data store 112 canstore information describing various content that has been posted byusers of a social networking system. In some implementations, the atleast one data store 112 can store information associated with thesocial networking system (e.g., the social networking system 630 of FIG.6). The information associated with the social networking system caninclude data about users, social connections, social interactions,locations, geo-fenced areas, maps, places, events, pages, groups, posts,communications, content, feeds, account settings, privacy settings, asocial graph, and various other types of data. In some implementations,the at least one data store 112 can store information associated withusers, such as user identifiers, user information, profile information,user specified settings, content produced or posted by users, andvarious other types of user data.

In various embodiments, the interface module 104 can be configured toprovide a messaging interface through which users can send messages andaccess received messages. For example, the messaging interface may bepresented through a display screen of a computing device. A useroperating the computing device can interact with the messaging interfaceusing various touchscreen gestures, for example. More details regardingthe messaging interface will be provided below with reference to FIGS.4A-4G.

In some embodiments, the message module 106 can provide various optionsfor creating and sending messages through the social networking system.In various embodiments, messages can be sent as ephemeral messages or asnon-ephemeral messages. In various embodiments, both ephemeral messagesand non-ephemeral messages can be exchanged among a group of usersthrough the same message thread. In some embodiments, a message threadfor a group of users (e.g., a user and one or more other users) can becreated, for example, when an initial message is communicated amongusers in the group. The message thread can then be used to manageon-going communication between the users in the group. The membership ofsuch message threads can vary over time, for example, as new users areadded to the group or when existing users leave (or are removed from)the group. More details regarding the message module 106 will beprovided below with reference to FIG. 2.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example message module 202, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the messagemodule 106 of FIG. 1 can be implemented with the message module 202. Asshown in the example of FIG. 2, the message module 202 can include anephemeral message module 204 and a non-ephemeral message module 206.

In some embodiments, the ephemeral message module 204 providesfunctionality for sending and accessing ephemeral messages. For example,a user can send ephemeral messages through one or more message threads.In general, each message thread is associated with a group of users(e.g., two or more users). Thus, for example, an ephemeral message canbe sent to one or more users (or recipients) through a correspondingmessage thread. These recipients can access the ephemeral message byaccessing this message thread through a messaging interface, forexample. In some embodiments, the ephemeral message module 204 canregulate access to ephemeral messages. More details regarding theephemeral message module 204 will be provided below with reference toFIG. 3A.

In some embodiments, the non-ephemeral message module 206 providesfunctionality for sending and accessing non-ephemeral messages. Likeephemeral messages, non-ephemeral messages can also be sent throughmessage threads that are each associated with a group of users (e.g.,two or more users). In various embodiments, both ephemeral messages andnon-ephemeral messages can be exchanged between a group of users in thesame message thread. In some embodiments, a non-ephemeral message can beaccessible to a designated recipient for an indefinite period of time(e.g., permanently) without having its expiration, if any, beingconditioned on some pre-defined event or some pre-defined period oftime. More details regarding the non-ephemeral message module 206 willbe provided below with reference to FIG. 3B.

FIG. 3A illustrates an example ephemeral message module 302, accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, theephemeral message module 204 of FIG. 2 can be implemented with theephemeral message module 302. As shown in the example of FIG. 3A, theephemeral message module 302 can include a message module 304, an accessmodule 306, a state module 308, and a reply module 310.

The message module 304 can be used to create ephemeral messages. In someembodiments, the message module 304 can provide options for sending andaccessing ephemeral messages. For example, a user can select an optionto send an ephemeral message. Upon selecting the option, the user cancreate the ephemeral message and provide the names (or usernames) of oneor more recipients of the ephemeral message. After selecting an optionto send the ephemeral message, the message module 304 can create amessage thread that manages messages exchanged between the user and theone or more recipients. If a message thread between the user and therecipients already exists, then the message module 304 can send theephemeral message through the existing message thread. In someembodiments, users can create and send ephemeral messages whileaccessing a given message thread. For example, while accessing a messagethread, a user can select an option to create an ephemeral message.After selecting the option, the message module 304 can provide a camerainterface for capturing any ephemeral media content items to be includedwith the ephemeral message. In some embodiments, the camera interfacecan be used to capture content using a computing device. For example,the camera interface can be used to capture audiovisual contentincluding both images and videos. Once desired content is captured, theuser can select an option to send the ephemeral message along with thecaptured content through the message thread or in an always ephemeralmode, the captures from the camera will be ephemeral by default. In someembodiments, the message module 304 restricts the types of content thatcan be sent as ephemeral messages. For example, in some embodiments,messages being sent as ephemeral messages may be restricted to visualcontent (e.g., images, videos, graphical text, animated text, etc., andcombinations thereof).

The access module 306 can manage access to ephemeral messages sharedthrough a given message thread. In some embodiments, a user that createdand sent an ephemeral message through a message thread can continue toaccess the ephemeral message while accessing the message thread. In someembodiments, the user is no longer permitted to access the ephemeralmessage after the user exits (or closes) the message thread. Forexample, the ephemeral message may appear as being expired when the useragain accesses the message thread. In some embodiments, the user can bepermitted to revive the ephemeral message when the user again accessesthe message thread. Once revived, the user can continue accessing theephemeral message while accessing the message thread. In someembodiments, the revived ephemeral message expires after the user againexits (or closes) the message thread. In some embodiments, the accessmodule 306 may restrict the number of times a given ephemeral messagecan be revived.

In some embodiments, the access module 306 can permit recipients of anephemeral message to access the ephemeral message. In some embodiments,the recipients can access the ephemeral message in a message threadthrough which the ephemeral message was sent. For example, a recipientcan repeatedly access an ephemeral message while in a message thread. Insome embodiments, the recipient's access to the ephemeral messageexpires once the recipient exits (or closes) the message thread. Manyvariations are possible.

In some embodiments, the access module 306 can provide a “keep” optionthat allows users to save ephemeral messages. For example, in someembodiments, a user that sent an ephemeral message through a messagethread can select the keep option to save the ephemeral message. In someembodiments, after saving the ephemeral message, the ephemeral messagecan appear as a non-ephemeral message in the user's view of the messagethread. In such embodiments, other members of the message thread canstill be shown the ephemeral message in the message thread. That is, theephemeral message does not appear as a non-ephemeral message in theother members' respective views of the message thread. Similarly, theother members can also select the keep option to save the ephemeralmessage in their respective views of the message thread. For example,once a recipient saves the ephemeral message, the ephemeral message canappear as a non-ephemeral message in the recipient's view of the messagethread. Many variations are possible.

In some embodiments, ephemeral messages exchanged between users can beassigned respective send states. For example, in some embodiments, anephemeral message sent through the social networking system is assigneda timestamp indicating when the ephemeral message was sent. Thistimestamp can be shown in a corresponding message thread through whichthe ephemeral message was communicated, for example. In someembodiments, the state module 308 can assign a corresponding state tothe sent ephemeral message. In such embodiments, the state for the sentephemeral message may be “delivered” when the ephemeral message has beendelivered to its recipients, “opened” (or “read”) when the ephemeralmessage has been accessed (or viewed) by a recipient or a thresholdnumber of the recipients (e.g., one recipient, all recipients, etc.),“replayed” when the message was re-accessed (or replayed) by a recipientor a threshold number of the recipients (e.g., one recipient, allrecipients, etc.), and/or “kept” when one or more recipients of theephemeral message select a “keep” option to retain the ephemeralmessage.

The reply module 310 can provide functionality for responding toephemeral messages. In various embodiments, users can reply to anephemeral message that was received in a message thread with bothephemeral and/or non-ephemeral messages. In some embodiments, an optionfor replying to a first ephemeral message can be provided in animmersive viewer through which the first ephemeral message is accessed.In such embodiments, the user can select the reply option to create adifferent, second ephemeral message in response to the first ephemeralmessage. For example, selecting the reply option can cause a camerainterface to be presented. In this example, the user can interact withthe camera interface to capture ephemeral media content items to be sentwith the second ephemeral message being created. Once created, thesecond ephemeral message can be sent through the same message thread inwhich the first ephemeral message was received. Many variations arepossible.

FIG. 3B illustrates an example non-ephemeral message module 352,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In someembodiments, the non-ephemeral message module 206 of FIG. 2 can beimplemented with the non-ephemeral message module 352. As shown in theexample of FIG. 3B, the non-ephemeral message module 352 can include amessage module 354, an access module 356, a state module 358, and areply module 360.

The message module 354 can provide functionality for creatingnon-ephemeral messages. In some embodiments, the message module 354 canprovide options for sending and accessing non-ephemeral messages. Forexample, a user can select an option to send a non-ephemeral message.Upon selecting the option, the user can create the non-ephemeral messageand provide the names (or usernames) of one or more recipients of thenon-ephemeral message. After selecting an option to send thenon-ephemeral message, the message module 354 can create a messagethread that manages messages exchanged between the user and the one ormore recipients. If a message thread between the user and the recipientsalready exists, then the message module 354 can send the non-ephemeralmessage through the existing message thread. In some embodiments, themessage module 354 restricts the types of content that can be sent asnon-ephemeral messages. For example, in some embodiments, messages beingsent as non-ephemeral messages may be restricted to text-based messages.In some embodiments, visual content can also be sent as non-ephemeralmessages. For example, visual content may include media content items(e.g., images, videos, etc.) accessible through a media gallery that isstored in (or accessible through) a user's computing device.

The access module 356 can manage access to non-ephemeral messages sharedthrough message threads. In various embodiments, non-ephemeral messagessent through a message thread remain accessible through the messagethread for an indefinite period of time. For example, a non-ephemeralmessage sent by a user and through a message thread can remainaccessible to the user for an indefinite period of time (e.g.,permanently). Similarly, recipients of the non-ephemeral message canalso access the non-ephemeral message through the message thread for anindefinite period of time (e.g., permanently).

In some embodiments, non-ephemeral messages exchanged between users canbe assigned respective send states. For example, in some embodiments, anon-ephemeral message sent through the social networking system can beassigned a timestamp indicating when the non-ephemeral message was sent.This timestamp can be shown in a corresponding message thread throughwhich the non-ephemeral message is communicated, for example. In someembodiments, the state module 358 can assign a corresponding state tothe sent non-ephemeral message. In such embodiments, the sentnon-ephemeral message may be assigned a “delivered” state when thenon-ephemeral message has been delivered to its recipients or an“opened” (or “read”) state when the non-ephemeral message has beenaccessed (or viewed) by an intended recipient or a threshold number ofthe recipients (e.g., one recipient, all recipients, etc.). Manyvariations are possible.

The reply module 360 can provide functionality for responding tonon-ephemeral messages. In various embodiments, users can reply to anon-ephemeral message with ephemeral messages and/or non-ephemeralmessages. For example, a user can reply to the non-ephemeral messagewith another non-ephemeral message that includes text and/or content.Alternatively, the user can create and send an ephemeral message inresponse to the non-ephemeral message. Many variations are possible.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example 400 of a messaging interface 404,according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In this example,the messaging interface 404 is presented through a display screen of acomputing device 402 that is configured to interact with a socialnetworking system. Further, the messaging interface 404 may be providedthrough an application (e.g., a web browser, a social networkingapplication, a messenger application, etc.) running on the computingdevice 402.

In the example of FIG. 4A, the messaging interface 404 provides accessto a number of message threads 406 through which groups of users canexchange messages. In various embodiments, users associated with amessage thread can exchange both ephemeral messages and non-ephemeralmessages through the same message thread. In the example of FIG. 4A, theuser operating the computing device can access a message thread 408using various touchscreen gestures. Once accessed, the messaginginterface 404 can provide a message view 412 of the message thread 408as illustrated in the example of FIG. 4B. In this example, the messageview 412 includes a non-ephemeral message 414 that was sent by a userthrough the message thread 408. In some embodiments, the message view412 includes an option 416 that can be selected to capture and sendmedia content items (e.g., images, videos, etc.) as ephemeral messagesand/or non-ephemeral messages through the messages thread 408. In thisexample, the user operating the computing device can select the option416 to send an ephemeral message in response to the non-ephemeralmessage 414. In some embodiments, when the option 416 is selected, acamera interface 420 for capturing ephemeral media content items can bepresented, as illustrated in the example of FIG. 4C. For example, thecamera interface 420 can be used to capture an ephemeral media contentitem to be included with the ephemeral message. Once a desired ephemeralmedia content item 422 is captured, the user can select an option 424 tosend the ephemeral media content item 422 as an ephemeral message 430,as shown in the example of FIG. 4D. The ephemeral message 430 can beshown in the message view 412. In some embodiments, the user operatingthe computing device 402 can repeatedly access (or replay) the ephemeralmessage 430 while accessing the message thread 408. That is, the usercan repeatedly access the ephemeral message 430 while accessing themessage view 412. Similarly, any recipients of the ephemeral message 430(e.g., a user “Jaris Fisher”) can also repeatedly access (or replay) theephemeral message 430 while accessing the message thread 408. In someembodiments, a recipient of the ephemeral message 430 is no longerpermitted to access the ephemeral message 430 after the recipient exits(or closes) the message thread 408.

In some embodiments, any states associated with the ephemeral message430 can be shown. In FIG. 4D, the message view 412 indicates an “opened”state 432 to inform the user that a recipient opened the ephemeralmessage 430. In some embodiments, the user's access to the ephemeralmessage 430 expires once the user exits (or closes) the message thread408. For example, the user can select an option 434 to exit (or close)the message view 412. In this example, selecting the option 434 canreturn the user to the messaging interface 404. However, exiting (orclosing) the message view 412 can result in the user's access to theephemeral message 430 being discontinued (or expired). In someembodiments, users are permitted to revive expired ephemeral messages.For example, the user can select an option 436 to revive the ephemeralmessage 430, as illustrated in the example of FIG. 4E. Once revived,access to the ephemeral message 430 can be restored as illustrated inthe example of FIG. 4F. In some embodiments, the user can select anoption 440 to “keep” the ephemeral message 430. In such embodiments,selecting the option 440 causes the ephemeral message 430 to beconverted to a non-ephemeral message. For example, once the ephemeralmessage 430 is converted, the user can repeatedly access thecorresponding non-ephemeral message within the message view 412 for anindefinite period of time. In some embodiments, a visual transformationis shown when a user selects an option to “keep” an ephemeral message.For example, the ephemeral message can include content such as photos orvideos. Initially, a preview of the ephemeral message can be shown inthe message view 412 and/or message thread 408. In some implementations,the preview can be modified. For example, the preview can be maskedusing some shape (e.g., round-shape). In some implementations, thepreview can be blurred. In some embodiments, a visual transformation isapplied to the preview of the ephemeral message once the ephemeralmessage has been “kept” and made permanent. For example, the ephemeralmessage can be unblurred in the message view 412 and/or message thread408. Further, the ephemeral message being can be masked based on adifferent shape (e.g., rectangular shape with rounded edges). Similarly,recipients of the ephemeral message 430 (e.g., the user “Jaris Fisher”)can also select a keep option to save the ephemeral message 430 as anon-ephemeral message within their view of the message thread 408. Insome embodiments, any recipients that do not opt to keep the ephemeralmessage 430 will lose their access to the ephemeral message 430 whenthose recipients exit (or close) the message thread 408. Many variationsare possible.

In some embodiments, when a recipient accesses an ephemeral message, therecipient can be shown any ephemeral media content items associated withthe ephemeral message in an immersive viewer. For example, a recipient(e.g., the user “Jaris Fisher”) accessing the ephemeral message 430 canbe shown the ephemeral media content item 422 in an immersive viewer444, as illustrated in the example of FIG. 4G. While accessing theimmersive viewer 444, the recipient can select an option 446 to respondto the ephemeral media content item 422. For example, in someembodiments, selecting the option 446 causes a camera interface to bepresented. The recipient can interact with the camera interface tocreate an ephemeral message to be sent in response. Many variations arepossible.

In various embodiments, a computing system (e.g., social networkingsystem) can manage various information related to message threads. Insome embodiments, the computing system can manage message threadactivity such as which users have viewed a given message (ephemeral ornon-ephemeral) and which users have selected a keep option to retain agiven ephemeral message as a non-ephemeral message. In some embodiments,when a sender (or user) selects a keep option to retain an ephemeralmessage within a given message thread, the ephemeral message isconverted to a non-ephemeral message for all other users that areparticipating in the message thread. For example, a sender can send anephemeral message (e.g., photo) to be shared amongst one or more otherusers through a message thread. A computing system (e.g., socialnetworking system) can receive and timestamp the ephemeral message. Thecomputing system can send (or forward) the ephemeral message to the oneor more other users participating in the message thread. For example,the computing system can forward the ephemeral message to both a firstuser and a second user. In this example, respective computing devicesbeing operated by the first user and the second user can communicateinformation to the computing system (e.g., social networking system).For example, the computing device of the first user can send a messagenotifying the computing system when the first user views the ephemeralmessage. The computing system can store information describing this viewaction. Once this notification is received, the computing system cansend an update notifying both the sender and the second user that thefirst user has viewed the ephemeral message. In a further example, thesecond user may also view and select an option to keep the ephemeralmessage. In this example, the computing device of the second user cannotify the computing system of any actions (e.g., view, keep, etc.)performed by the second user. The computing system can store informationdescribing these actions. In some embodiments, when one or more usersincluded in a message thread select an option to keep an ephemeralmessage, that ephemeral message is converted to a non-ephemeral messagefor all other users participating in the message thread. Many variationsare possible.

For example, a message thread (or group thread) may include two or moreusers. In this example, at step 1, a first user (sender) sends anephemeral message (e.g., ephemeral photo) through the message thread. Atstep 2, a computing system (e.g., social networking system) receives theephemeral message and records the send time. At step 3, the computingsystem forwards the ephemeral message to a second user (R1) and a thirduser (R2) participating in the message thread. At step 4, the seconduser views the ephemeral message in the message thread. A computingdevice of the second user sends a message notifying the computing systemthat the second user has seen the ephemeral message. At step 5, thecomputing system records information indicating the second user hasviewed the ephemeral message (e.g., “seen_by: R1”). In some embodiments,the computing system also records a seen time indicating when the seconduser viewed the ephemeral message. The computing system sends updatenotifications to computing devices of the first user and the third userindicating the second user has viewed the ephemeral message (e.g.,“seen_by: R1”). At step 6, the third user also views the ephemeralmessage and selects an option to keep the ephemeral message. A computingdevice of the third user sends a message notifying the computing systemthat the third user has seen and kept the ephemeral message. At step 7,the computing system records the view and keep actions performed by thethird user (e.g., “seen_by: R1, R2” and “kept_by: R2). The computingsystem also sends the kept ephemeral message as a new message (e.g., anon-ephemeral or permanent photo) to participants of the message thread,i.e., the first, second, and third users. In this way, the ephemeralmessage becomes permanent in the message thread for all participants.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example method 500, according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. It should be appreciated that there can beadditional, fewer, or alternative steps performed in similar oralternative orders, or in parallel, within the scope of the variousembodiments discussed herein unless otherwise stated.

At block 502, a messaging interface for accessing one or more messagethreads can be provided, the message threads being accessible through asocial networking system. At block 504, at least one ephemeral messageto be sent through a first message thread can be determined. The firstmessage thread can be used to exchange messages among a first group ofusers. At block 506, the first group of users can be provided withaccess to the ephemeral message through the first message thread.

It is contemplated that there can be many other uses, applications,and/or variations associated with the various embodiments of the presentdisclosure. For example, in some cases, user can choose whether or notto opt-in to utilize the disclosed technology. The disclosed technologycan also ensure that various privacy settings and preferences aremaintained and can prevent private information from being divulged. Inanother example, various embodiments of the present disclosure canlearn, improve, and/or be refined over time.

Social Networking System—Example Implementation

FIG. 6 illustrates a network diagram of an example system 600 that canbe utilized in various scenarios, in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present disclosure. The system 600 includes one or more user devices610, one or more external systems 620, a social networking system (orservice) 630, and a network 650. In an embodiment, the social networkingservice, provider, and/or system discussed in connection with theembodiments described above may be implemented as the social networkingsystem 630. For purposes of illustration, the embodiment of the system600, shown by FIG. 6, includes a single external system 620 and a singleuser device 610. However, in other embodiments, the system 600 mayinclude more user devices 610 and/or more external systems 620. Incertain embodiments, the social networking system 630 is operated by asocial network provider, whereas the external systems 620 are separatefrom the social networking system 630 in that they may be operated bydifferent entities. In various embodiments, however, the socialnetworking system 630 and the external systems 620 operate inconjunction to provide social networking services to users (or members)of the social networking system 630. In this sense, the socialnetworking system 630 provides a platform or backbone, which othersystems, such as external systems 620, may use to provide socialnetworking services and functionalities to users across the Internet.

The user device 610 comprises one or more computing devices (or systems)that can receive input from a user and transmit and receive data via thenetwork 650. In one embodiment, the user device 610 is a conventionalcomputer system executing, for example, a Microsoft Windows compatibleoperating system (OS), Apple OS X, and/or a Linux distribution. Inanother embodiment, the user device 610 can be a computing device or adevice having computer functionality, such as a smart-phone, a tablet, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a laptop computer,a wearable device (e.g., a pair of glasses, a watch, a bracelet, etc.),a camera, an appliance, etc. The user device 610 is configured tocommunicate via the network 650. The user device 610 can execute anapplication, for example, a browser application that allows a user ofthe user device 610 to interact with the social networking system 630.In another embodiment, the user device 610 interacts with the socialnetworking system 630 through an application programming interface (API)provided by the native operating system of the user device 610, such asiOS and ANDROID. The user device 610 is configured to communicate withthe external system 620 and the social networking system 630 via thenetwork 650, which may comprise any combination of local area and/orwide area networks, using wired and/or wireless communication systems.

In one embodiment, the network 650 uses standard communicationstechnologies and protocols. Thus, the network 650 can include linksusing technologies such as Ethernet, 802.11, worldwide interoperabilityfor microwave access (WiMAX), 3G, 4G, CDMA, GSM, LTE, digital subscriberline (DSL), etc. Similarly, the networking protocols used on the network650 can include multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), transmissioncontrol protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol(UDP), hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), simple mail transferprotocol (SMTP), file transfer protocol (FTP), and the like. The dataexchanged over the network 650 can be represented using technologiesand/or formats including hypertext markup language (HTML) and extensiblemarkup language (XML). In addition, all or some links can be encryptedusing conventional encryption technologies such as secure sockets layer(SSL), transport layer security (TLS), and Internet Protocol security(IPsec).

In one embodiment, the user device 610 may display content from theexternal system 620 and/or from the social networking system 630 byprocessing a markup language document 614 received from the externalsystem 620 and from the social networking system 630 using a browserapplication 612. The markup language document 614 identifies content andone or more instructions describing formatting or presentation of thecontent. By executing the instructions included in the markup languagedocument 614, the browser application 612 displays the identifiedcontent using the format or presentation described by the markuplanguage document 614. For example, the markup language document 614includes instructions for generating and displaying a web page havingmultiple frames that include text and/or image data retrieved from theexternal system 620 and the social networking system 630. In variousembodiments, the markup language document 614 comprises a data fileincluding extensible markup language (XML) data, extensible hypertextmarkup language (XHTML) data, or other markup language data.Additionally, the markup language document 614 may include JavaScriptObject Notation (JSON) data, JSON with padding (JSONP), and JavaScriptdata to facilitate data-interchange between the external system 620 andthe user device 610. The browser application 612 on the user device 610may use a JavaScript compiler to decode the markup language document614.

The markup language document 614 may also include, or link to,applications or application frameworks such as FLASH™ or Unity™applications, the Silverlight™ application framework, etc.

In one embodiment, the user device 610 also includes one or more cookies616 including data indicating whether a user of the user device 610 islogged into the social networking system 630, which may enablemodification of the data communicated from the social networking system630 to the user device 610.

The external system 620 includes one or more web servers that includeone or more web pages 622 a, 622 b, which are communicated to the userdevice 610 using the network 650. The external system 620 is separatefrom the social networking system 630. For example, the external system620 is associated with a first domain, while the social networkingsystem 630 is associated with a separate social networking domain. Webpages 622 a, 622 b, included in the external system 620, comprise markuplanguage documents 614 identifying content and including instructionsspecifying formatting or presentation of the identified content. Asdiscussed previously, it should be appreciated that there can be manyvariations or other possibilities.

The social networking system 630 includes one or more computing devicesfor a social network, including a plurality of users, and providingusers of the social network with the ability to communicate and interactwith other users of the social network. In some instances, the socialnetwork can be represented by a graph, i.e., a data structure includingedges and nodes. Other data structures can also be used to represent thesocial network, including but not limited to databases, objects,classes, meta elements, files, or any other data structure. The socialnetworking system 630 may be administered, managed, or controlled by anoperator. The operator of the social networking system 630 may be ahuman being, an automated application, or a series of applications formanaging content, regulating policies, and collecting usage metricswithin the social networking system 630. Any type of operator may beused.

Users may join the social networking system 630 and then add connectionsto any number of other users of the social networking system 630 to whomthey desire to be connected. As used herein, the term “friend” refers toany other user of the social networking system 630 to whom a user hasformed a connection, association, or relationship via the socialnetworking system 630. For example, in an embodiment, if users in thesocial networking system 630 are represented as nodes in the socialgraph, the term “friend” can refer to an edge formed between anddirectly connecting two user nodes.

Connections may be added explicitly by a user or may be automaticallycreated by the social networking system 630 based on commoncharacteristics of the users (e.g., users who are alumni of the sameeducational institution). For example, a first user specifically selectsa particular other user to be a friend. Connections in the socialnetworking system 630 are usually in both directions, but need not be,so the terms “user” and “friend” depend on the frame of reference.Connections between users of the social networking system 630 areusually bilateral (“two-way”), or “mutual,” but connections may also beunilateral, or “one-way.” For example, if Bob and Joe are both users ofthe social networking system 630 and connected to each other, Bob andJoe are each other's connections. If, on the other hand, Bob wishes toconnect to Joe to view data communicated to the social networking system630 by Joe, but Joe does not wish to form a mutual connection, aunilateral connection may be established. The connection between usersmay be a direct connection; however, some embodiments of the socialnetworking system 630 allow the connection to be indirect via one ormore levels of connections or degrees of separation.

In addition to establishing and maintaining connections between usersand allowing interactions between users, the social networking system630 provides users with the ability to take actions on various types ofitems supported by the social networking system 630. These items mayinclude groups or networks (i.e., social networks of people, entities,and concepts) to which users of the social networking system 630 maybelong, events or calendar entries in which a user might be interested,computer-based applications that a user may use via the socialnetworking system 630, transactions that allow users to buy or sellitems via services provided by or through the social networking system630, and interactions with advertisements that a user may perform on oroff the social networking system 630. These are just a few examples ofthe items upon which a user may act on the social networking system 630,and many others are possible. A user may interact with anything that iscapable of being represented in the social networking system 630 or inthe external system 620, separate from the social networking system 630,or coupled to the social networking system 630 via the network 650.

The social networking system 630 is also capable of linking a variety ofentities. For example, the social networking system 630 enables users tointeract with each other as well as external systems 620 or otherentities through an API, a web service, or other communication channels.The social networking system 630 generates and maintains the “socialgraph” comprising a plurality of nodes interconnected by a plurality ofedges. Each node in the social graph may represent an entity that canact on another node and/or that can be acted on by another node. Thesocial graph may include various types of nodes. Examples of types ofnodes include users, non-person entities, content items, web pages,groups, activities, messages, concepts, and any other things that can berepresented by an object in the social networking system 630. An edgebetween two nodes in the social graph may represent a particular kind ofconnection, or association, between the two nodes, which may result fromnode relationships or from an action that was performed by one of thenodes on the other node. In some cases, the edges between nodes can beweighted. The weight of an edge can represent an attribute associatedwith the edge, such as a strength of the connection or associationbetween nodes. Different types of edges can be provided with differentweights. For example, an edge created when one user “likes” another usermay be given one weight, while an edge created when a user befriendsanother user may be given a different weight.

As an example, when a first user identifies a second user as a friend,an edge in the social graph is generated connecting a node representingthe first user and a second node representing the second user. Asvarious nodes relate or interact with each other, the social networkingsystem 630 modifies edges connecting the various nodes to reflect therelationships and interactions.

The social networking system 630 also includes user-generated content,which enhances a user's interactions with the social networking system630. User-generated content may include anything a user can add, upload,send, or “post” to the social networking system 630. For example, a usercommunicates posts to the social networking system 630 from a userdevice 610. Posts may include data such as status updates or othertextual data, location information, images such as photos, videos,links, music or other similar data and/or media. Content may also beadded to the social networking system 630 by a third party. Content“items” are represented as objects in the social networking system 630.In this way, users of the social networking system 630 are encouraged tocommunicate with each other by posting text and content items of varioustypes of media through various communication channels. Suchcommunication increases the interaction of users with each other andincreases the frequency with which users interact with the socialnetworking system 630.

The social networking system 630 includes a web server 632, an APIrequest server 634, a user profile store 636, a connection store 638, anaction logger 640, an activity log 642, and an authorization server 644.In an embodiment of the invention, the social networking system 630 mayinclude additional, fewer, or different components for variousapplications. Other components, such as network interfaces, securitymechanisms, load balancers, failover servers, management and networkoperations consoles, and the like are not shown so as to not obscure thedetails of the system.

The user profile store 636 maintains information about user accounts,including biographic, demographic, and other types of descriptiveinformation, such as work experience, educational history, hobbies orpreferences, location, and the like that has been declared by users orinferred by the social networking system 630. This information is storedin the user profile store 636 such that each user is uniquelyidentified. The social networking system 630 also stores data describingone or more connections between different users in the connection store638. The connection information may indicate users who have similar orcommon work experience, group memberships, hobbies, or educationalhistory. Additionally, the social networking system 630 includesuser-defined connections between different users, allowing users tospecify their relationships with other users. For example, user-definedconnections allow users to generate relationships with other users thatparallel the users' real-life relationships, such as friends,co-workers, partners, and so forth. Users may select from predefinedtypes of connections, or define their own connection types as needed.Connections with other nodes in the social networking system 630, suchas non-person entities, buckets, cluster centers, images, interests,pages, external systems, concepts, and the like are also stored in theconnection store 638.

The social networking system 630 maintains data about objects with whicha user may interact. To maintain this data, the user profile store 636and the connection store 638 store instances of the corresponding typeof objects maintained by the social networking system 630. Each objecttype has information fields that are suitable for storing informationappropriate to the type of object. For example, the user profile store636 contains data structures with fields suitable for describing auser's account and information related to a user's account. When a newobject of a particular type is created, the social networking system 630initializes a new data structure of the corresponding type, assigns aunique object identifier to it, and begins to add data to the object asneeded. This might occur, for example, when a user becomes a user of thesocial networking system 630, the social networking system 630 generatesa new instance of a user profile in the user profile store 636, assignsa unique identifier to the user account, and begins to populate thefields of the user account with information provided by the user.

The connection store 638 includes data structures suitable fordescribing a user's connections to other users, connections to externalsystems 620 or connections to other entities. The connection store 638may also associate a connection type with a user's connections, whichmay be used in conjunction with the user's privacy setting to regulateaccess to information about the user. In an embodiment of the invention,the user profile store 636 and the connection store 638 may beimplemented as a federated database.

Data stored in the connection store 638, the user profile store 636, andthe activity log 642 enables the social networking system 630 togenerate the social graph that uses nodes to identify various objectsand edges connecting nodes to identify relationships between differentobjects. For example, if a first user establishes a connection with asecond user in the social networking system 630, user accounts of thefirst user and the second user from the user profile store 636 may actas nodes in the social graph. The connection between the first user andthe second user stored by the connection store 638 is an edge betweenthe nodes associated with the first user and the second user. Continuingthis example, the second user may then send the first user a messagewithin the social networking system 630. The action of sending themessage, which may be stored, is another edge between the two nodes inthe social graph representing the first user and the second user.Additionally, the message itself may be identified and included in thesocial graph as another node connected to the nodes representing thefirst user and the second user.

In another example, a first user may tag a second user in an image thatis maintained by the social networking system 630 (or, alternatively, inan image maintained by another system outside of the social networkingsystem 630). The image may itself be represented as a node in the socialnetworking system 630. This tagging action may create edges between thefirst user and the second user as well as create an edge between each ofthe users and the image, which is also a node in the social graph. Inyet another example, if a user confirms attending an event, the user andthe event are nodes obtained from the user profile store 636, where theattendance of the event is an edge between the nodes that may beretrieved from the activity log 642. By generating and maintaining thesocial graph, the social networking system 630 includes data describingmany different types of objects and the interactions and connectionsamong those objects, providing a rich source of socially relevantinformation.

The web server 632 links the social networking system 630 to one or moreuser devices 610 and/or one or more external systems 620 via the network650. The web server 632 serves web pages, as well as other web-relatedcontent, such as Java, JavaScript, Flash, XML, and so forth. The webserver 632 may include a mail server or other messaging functionalityfor receiving and routing messages between the social networking system630 and one or more user devices 610. The messages can be instantmessages, queued messages (e.g., email), text and SMS messages, or anyother suitable messaging format.

The API request server 634 allows one or more external systems 620 anduser devices 610 to call access information from the social networkingsystem 630 by calling one or more API functions. The API request server634 may also allow external systems 620 to send information to thesocial networking system 630 by calling APIs. The external system 620,in one embodiment, sends an API request to the social networking system630 via the network 650, and the API request server 634 receives the APIrequest. The API request server 634 processes the request by calling anAPI associated with the API request to generate an appropriate response,which the API request server 634 communicates to the external system 620via the network 650. For example, responsive to an API request, the APIrequest server 634 collects data associated with a user, such as theuser's connections that have logged into the external system 620, andcommunicates the collected data to the external system 620. In anotherembodiment, the user device 610 communicates with the social networkingsystem 630 via APIs in the same manner as external systems 620.

The action logger 640 is capable of receiving communications from theweb server 632 about user actions on and/or off the social networkingsystem 630. The action logger 640 populates the activity log 642 withinformation about user actions, enabling the social networking system630 to discover various actions taken by its users within the socialnetworking system 630 and outside of the social networking system 630.Any action that a particular user takes with respect to another node onthe social networking system 630 may be associated with each user'saccount, through information maintained in the activity log 642 or in asimilar database or other data repository. Examples of actions taken bya user within the social networking system 630 that are identified andstored may include, for example, adding a connection to another user,sending a message to another user, reading a message from another user,viewing content associated with another user, attending an event postedby another user, posting an image, attempting to post an image, or otheractions interacting with another user or another object. When a usertakes an action within the social networking system 630, the action isrecorded in the activity log 642. In one embodiment, the socialnetworking system 630 maintains the activity log 642 as a database ofentries. When an action is taken within the social networking system630, an entry for the action is added to the activity log 642. Theactivity log 642 may be referred to as an action log.

Additionally, user actions may be associated with concepts and actionsthat occur within an entity outside of the social networking system 630,such as an external system 620 that is separate from the socialnetworking system 630. For example, the action logger 640 may receivedata describing a user's interaction with an external system 620 fromthe web server 632. In this example, the external system 620 reports auser's interaction according to structured actions and objects in thesocial graph.

Other examples of actions where a user interacts with an external system620 include a user expressing an interest in an external system 620 oranother entity, a user posting a comment to the social networking system630 that discusses an external system 620 or a web page 622 a within theexternal system 620, a user posting to the social networking system 630a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or other identifier associated with anexternal system 620, a user attending an event associated with anexternal system 620, or any other action by a user that is related to anexternal system 620. Thus, the activity log 642 may include actionsdescribing interactions between a user of the social networking system630 and an external system 620 that is separate from the socialnetworking system 630.

The authorization server 644 enforces one or more privacy settings ofthe users of the social networking system 630. A privacy setting of auser determines how particular information associated with a user can beshared. The privacy setting comprises the specification of particularinformation associated with a user and the specification of the entityor entities with whom the information can be shared. Examples ofentities with which information can be shared may include other users,applications, external systems 620, or any entity that can potentiallyaccess the information. The information that can be shared by a usercomprises user account information, such as profile photos, phonenumbers associated with the user, user's connections, actions taken bythe user such as adding a connection, changing user profile information,and the like.

The privacy setting specification may be provided at different levels ofgranularity. For example, the privacy setting may identify specificinformation to be shared with other users; the privacy settingidentifies a work phone number or a specific set of related information,such as, personal information including profile photo, home phonenumber, and status. Alternatively, the privacy setting may apply to allthe information associated with the user. The specification of the setof entities that can access particular information can also be specifiedat various levels of granularity. Various sets of entities with whichinformation can be shared may include, for example, all friends of theuser, all friends of friends, all applications, or all external systems620. One embodiment allows the specification of the set of entities tocomprise an enumeration of entities. For example, the user may provide alist of external systems 620 that are allowed to access certaininformation. Another embodiment allows the specification to comprise aset of entities along with exceptions that are not allowed to access theinformation. For example, a user may allow all external systems 620 toaccess the user's work information, but specify a list of externalsystems 620 that are not allowed to access the work information. Certainembodiments call the list of exceptions that are not allowed to accesscertain information a “block list”. External systems 620 belonging to ablock list specified by a user are blocked from accessing theinformation specified in the privacy setting. Various combinations ofgranularity of specification of information, and granularity ofspecification of entities, with which information is shared arepossible. For example, all personal information may be shared withfriends whereas all work information may be shared with friends offriends.

The authorization server 644 contains logic to determine if certaininformation associated with a user can be accessed by a user's friends,external systems 620, and/or other applications and entities. Theexternal system 620 may need authorization from the authorization server644 to access the user's more private and sensitive information, such asthe user's work phone number. Based on the user's privacy settings, theauthorization server 644 determines if another user, the external system620, an application, or another entity is allowed to access informationassociated with the user, including information about actions taken bythe user.

In some embodiments, the social networking system 630 can include amessaging module 646. The messaging module 646 can, for example, beimplemented as the messaging module 102 of FIG. 1. In some embodiments,the messaging module 646, in whole or in part, is additionally oralternatively implemented in the user device 610. As discussedpreviously, it should be appreciated that there can be many variationsor other possibilities.

Hardware Implementation

The foregoing processes and features can be implemented by a widevariety of machine and computer system architectures and in a widevariety of network and computing environments. FIG. 7 illustrates anexample of a computer system 700 that may be used to implement one ormore of the embodiments described herein in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. The computer system 700 includes sets ofinstructions for causing the computer system 700 to perform theprocesses and features discussed herein. The computer system 700 may beconnected (e.g., networked) to other machines. In a networkeddeployment, the computer system 700 may operate in the capacity of aserver machine or a client machine in a client-server networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. In an embodiment of the invention, the computersystem 700 may be the social networking system 630, the user device 610,and the external system 720, or a component thereof. In an embodiment ofthe invention, the computer system 700 may be one server among many thatconstitutes all or part of the social networking system 630.

The computer system 700 includes a processor 702, a cache 704, and oneor more executable modules and drivers, stored on a computer-readablemedium, directed to the processes and features described herein.Additionally, the computer system 700 includes a high performanceinput/output (I/O) bus 706 and a standard I/O bus 708. A host bridge 710couples processor 702 to high performance I/O bus 706, whereas I/O busbridge 712 couples the two buses 706 and 708 to each other. A systemmemory 714 and one or more network interfaces 716 couple to highperformance I/O bus 706. The computer system 700 may further includevideo memory and a display device coupled to the video memory (notshown). Mass storage 718 and I/O ports 720 couple to the standard I/Obus 708. The computer system 700 may optionally include a keyboard andpointing device, a display device, or other input/output devices (notshown) coupled to the standard I/O bus 708. Collectively, these elementsare intended to represent a broad category of computer hardware systems,including but not limited to computer systems based on thex86-compatible processors manufactured by Intel Corporation of SantaClara, Calif., and the x86-compatible processors manufactured byAdvanced Micro Devices (AMD), Inc., of Sunnyvale, Calif., as well as anyother suitable processor.

An operating system manages and controls the operation of the computersystem 700, including the input and output of data to and from softwareapplications (not shown). The operating system provides an interfacebetween the software applications being executed on the system and thehardware components of the system. Any suitable operating system may beused, such as the LINUX Operating System, the Apple Macintosh OperatingSystem, available from Apple Computer Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., UNIXoperating systems, Microsoft® Windows® operating systems, BSD operatingsystems, and the like. Other implementations are possible.

The elements of the computer system 700 are described in greater detailbelow. In particular, the network interface 716 provides communicationbetween the computer system 700 and any of a wide range of networks,such as an Ethernet (e.g., IEEE 802.3) network, a backplane, etc. Themass storage 718 provides permanent storage for the data and programminginstructions to perform the above-described processes and featuresimplemented by the respective computing systems identified above,whereas the system memory 714 (e.g., DRAM) provides temporary storagefor the data and programming instructions when executed by the processor702. The I/O ports 720 may be one or more serial and/or parallelcommunication ports that provide communication between additionalperipheral devices, which may be coupled to the computer system 700.

The computer system 700 may include a variety of system architectures,and various components of the computer system 700 may be rearranged. Forexample, the cache 704 may be on-chip with processor 702. Alternatively,the cache 704 and the processor 702 may be packed together as a“processor module”, with processor 702 being referred to as the“processor core”. Furthermore, certain embodiments of the invention mayneither require nor include all of the above components. For example,peripheral devices coupled to the standard I/O bus 708 may couple to thehigh performance I/O bus 706. In addition, in some embodiments, only asingle bus may exist, with the components of the computer system 700being coupled to the single bus. Moreover, the computer system 700 mayinclude additional components, such as additional processors, storagedevices, or memories.

In general, the processes and features described herein may beimplemented as part of an operating system or a specific application,component, program, object, module, or series of instructions referredto as “programs”. For example, one or more programs may be used toexecute specific processes described herein. The programs typicallycomprise one or more instructions in various memory and storage devicesin the computer system 700 that, when read and executed by one or moreprocessors, cause the computer system 700 to perform operations toexecute the processes and features described herein. The processes andfeatures described herein may be implemented in software, firmware,hardware (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit), or anycombination thereof.

In one implementation, the processes and features described herein areimplemented as a series of executable modules run by the computer system700, individually or collectively in a distributed computingenvironment. The foregoing modules may be realized by hardware,executable modules stored on a computer-readable medium (ormachine-readable medium), or a combination of both. For example, themodules may comprise a plurality or series of instructions to beexecuted by a processor in a hardware system, such as the processor 702.Initially, the series of instructions may be stored on a storage device,such as the mass storage 718. However, the series of instructions can bestored on any suitable computer readable storage medium. Furthermore,the series of instructions need not be stored locally, and could bereceived from a remote storage device, such as a server on a network,via the network interface 716. The instructions are copied from thestorage device, such as the mass storage 718, into the system memory 714and then accessed and executed by the processor 702. In variousimplementations, a module or modules can be executed by a processor ormultiple processors in one or multiple locations, such as multipleservers in a parallel processing environment.

Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to,recordable type media such as volatile and non-volatile memory devices;solid state memories; floppy and other removable disks; hard diskdrives; magnetic media; optical disks (e.g., Compact Disk Read-OnlyMemory (CD ROMS), Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs)); other similarnon-transitory (or transitory), tangible (or non-tangible) storagemedium; or any type of medium suitable for storing, encoding, orcarrying a series of instructions for execution by the computer system700 to perform any one or more of the processes and features describedherein.

For purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the description. It will beapparent, however, to one skilled in the art that embodiments of thedisclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In someinstances, modules, structures, processes, features, and devices areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the description.In other instances, functional block diagrams and flow diagrams areshown to represent data and logic flows. The components of blockdiagrams and flow diagrams (e.g., modules, blocks, structures, devices,features, etc.) may be variously combined, separated, removed,reordered, and replaced in a manner other than as expressly describedand depicted herein.

Reference in this specification to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”,“other embodiments”, “one series of embodiments”, “some embodiments”,“various embodiments”, or the like means that a particular feature,design, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of, for example, the phrase “in one embodiment” or “in anembodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarilyall referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternativeembodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, whetheror not there is express reference to an “embodiment” or the like,various features are described, which may be variously combined andincluded in some embodiments, but also variously omitted in otherembodiments. Similarly, various features are described that may bepreferences or requirements for some embodiments, but not otherembodiments.

The language used herein has been principally selected for readabilityand instructional purposes, and it may not have been selected todelineate or circumscribe the inventive subject matter. It is thereforeintended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detaileddescription, but rather by any claims that issue on an application basedhereon. Accordingly, the disclosure of the embodiments of the inventionis intended to be illustrative, but not limiting, of the scope of theinvention, which is set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:providing, by a computing system, a messaging interface for accessingone or more message threads; determining, by the computing system, atleast one ephemeral message to be sent through a first message thread,wherein the first message thread is used to exchange messages among afirst group of users; providing, by the computing system, the firstgroup of users with access to the ephemeral message through the firstmessage thread, wherein a user that created the ephemeral message ispermitted to view the ephemeral message while accessing the firstmessage thread, wherein, after closing the first message thread, theuser is no longer permitted to view the ephemeral message when the usersubsequently accesses the first message thread; and determining, by thecomputing system, a selection of an option associated with the messaginginterface to keep the ephemeral message in the first message thread,wherein selection of the option converts the ephemeral message to anon-ephemeral message in the first message thread.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first group of userscan exchange both ephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages throughthe first message thread.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the user is able to select an option to revive the ephemeralmessage in the first message thread, wherein reviving the ephemeralmessage permits the user to again access the ephemeral message.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein a recipient of theephemeral message is permitted to view the ephemeral message whileaccessing the first message thread, and wherein the recipient is nolonger permitted to view the ephemeral message after exiting the firstmessage thread.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, themethod further comprising: determining, by the computing system, atleast one non-ephemeral message to be sent through the first messagethread; and providing, by the computing system, the first group of userswith access to the non-ephemeral message through the first messagethread.
 6. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein thenon-ephemeral message remains accessible to the first group of userseven after a user exits the first message thread.
 7. A systemcomprising: at least one processor; and a memory storing instructionsthat, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system toperform: providing a messaging interface for accessing one or moremessage threads; determining at least one ephemeral message to be sentthrough a first message thread, wherein the first message thread is usedto exchange messages among a first group of users; providing the firstgroup of users with access to the ephemeral message through the firstmessage thread, wherein a user that created the ephemeral message ispermitted to view the ephemeral message while accessing the firstmessage thread, wherein, after closing the first message thread, theuser is no longer permitted to view the ephemeral message when the usersubsequently accesses the first message thread; and determining aselection of an option associated with the messaging interface to keepthe ephemeral message in the first message thread, wherein selection ofthe option converts the ephemeral message to a non-ephemeral message inthe first message thread.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein the firstgroup of users can exchange both ephemeral messages and non-ephemeralmessages through the first message thread.
 9. The system of claim 7,wherein the user is able to select an option to revive the ephemeralmessage in the first message thread, wherein reviving the ephemeralmessage permits the user to again access the ephemeral message.
 10. Anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructionsthat, when executed by at least one processor of a computing system,cause the computing system to perform a method comprising: providing amessaging interface for accessing one or more message threads;determining at least one ephemeral message to be sent through a firstmessage thread, wherein the first message thread is used to exchangemessages among a first group of users; providing the first group ofusers with access to the ephemeral message through the first messagethread, wherein a user that created the ephemeral message is permittedto view the ephemeral message while accessing the first message thread,wherein, after closing the first message thread, the user is no longerpermitted to view the ephemeral message when the user subsequentlyaccesses the first message thread; and determining a selection of anoption associated with the messaging interface to keep the ephemeralmessage in the first message thread, wherein selection of the optionconverts the ephemeral message to a non-ephemeral message in the firstmessage thread.
 11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumof claim 10, wherein the first group of users can exchange bothephemeral messages and non-ephemeral messages through the first messagethread.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim10, wherein the user is able to select an option to revive the ephemeralmessage in the first message thread, wherein reviving the ephemeralmessage permits the user to again access the ephemeral message.